Why do people listen to music?
I can’t think of anything else in the world in which we live that is as universal as music.
James Rhodes, Pianist
According to the Music Listening 2019 report, released by IFPI, people typically spend 18 hours per week listening to music, which equates to about 2.6 hours daily.
I was shocked when I saw 35,338 minutes spent on Spotify in 2020. 24 days of the year listening to music. Without a doubt, the pandemic played a role in this number, but it’s still inconceivable devoting so much time to music.
While listening to Movie Night by Joey Pecoraro on Christmas Eve I was wondering how music affects our body and our mind. My feet were tapping along to the beat and my head nodding. It just felt so good. It made me curious to investigate some of the literature dealing with the physiological and psychological changes of music on people. In this post, I’ll share with you what I’ve found most compelling (to me at least).
In a study conducted in Germany, 834 participants from 8 to 85 years of age were asked to rate how strongly they agreed with each item-statement concerned with musical use or function on a scale of 0 ( not at all) to 6 ( fully agree). The 129 distinct items were phrased as statements in the form “I listen to music because…”
When analyzing the results, the researchers found three commonplace dimensions that were later labeled: (1) self-awareness, (2), social relatedness, (3) and arousal and mood regulation.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- People listen to music to regulate arousal and mood, to achieve self-awareness, and as an expression of social relatedness
- Listening to music can be a way to reduce stress, reconnect with your body and mind, and synchronize with other people
- Music listening is associated with ergogenic effects on exercising and sports and feel-good experiences
1. Self-awareness
A very private relationship with music. Includes statements about self-related thoughts, emotions and sentiments, absorption (get distracted from the outside world), escapism (forget about reality), coping (deal with something difficult), solace (consolation in a time of sadness), and meaning.
Lowering anxiety
One of the major reasons why I listen to music every day is that it helps me calm down and focus on the present. It’s easy to fall into the trap of worrying about the future and lose energy that could be directed to the things we have control over.
In this way, I find music extremely valuable to lower my anxiety and practice mindfulness. It’s a moment to be aware of my thoughts, feelings, and the environment around me. It’s a healing time to connect with my inner self-to shut the fuck up and just listen.
“It brings up memories. It takes us back to places and times that we remember fondly. And it’s healing in that way. Music has a way to let us express our feelings and emotions where sometimes words fall short.”
Bob Huffman, Music Therapist
Besides, some scholars have argued that humans have used music to help cope with awareness of life’s ephemerality (similar to religious beliefs about transcendence that help people deal with anxiety concerning mortality). Music-induced chills produce reduced activity in areas of the brain associated with anxiety. Indeed, we often experience flow when we’re listening to music, which can be interpreted as a means of escapism or transcendence.
Bonus: relaxing classical music can reduce sleeping problems like insomnia. (lol)
Conjuring emotions
It’s undeniable that music conveys emotion to its listeners with the help of structural features. But can it evoke emotions in the listener?
Since it’s produced within the listener, it’s hard to measure. However, current research has shown observable responses to elicited emotions, reinforcing the idea that songs can lead to specific mental states.
These emotions can be completely new feelings or extended emotional memories. Because of music’s pervasive aspect in our lives, it serves as a powerful cue to recall events associated with strong emotional responses. Sometimes we may choose to listen to sad music, for example, to retrieve certain memories, feel closer to other people, or distract ourselves from the chaotic world.
Furthermore, it’s been proven that familiarity increased the intensity of emotional response to music. (source)
Nevertheless, below is an interesting scheme for assessing experienced emotion with music:
Experienced Emotion = Structural features × Performance features × Listener features × Contextual features × Extra-Musical features
Handling tough situations
A lot of people, not only adolescents, use music to relieve stress and dispel negative emotions. Who can’t think of movie scenes where teenagers, in the privacy of their bedrooms, are listening to music and relating the themes of the songs to their own lives? It’s no coincidence that there’s a spike in time spent listening to music when the number of problems, conflicts, and stresses increases in early adolescence.
In a study from New York, forty cataract patients with an average age of 74 were examined to see how music affects surgical patients. Half were randomly assigned to receive ordinary care. The other half got the same care but were given headphones to listen to the music of their choice before, during, and immediately after the operations. Before surgery, patients in both groups had similar blood pressures.
The blood pressure of the patients surrounded by silence remained high throughout the operation, while that of those listening to music declined quickly and remained low after the procedure. It was found that surgeons also showed fewer signs of stress and demonstrated improved performance.
2. Social relatedness
Music as social glue. Includes statements about social bonding and affiliation.
Spotting identities
Nicholas Cook asserted: “In today’s world, deciding what music to listen to is a significant part of deciding and announcing to people not just who you want to be, but who you are”. In psychology theory, there’s the idea of the self as something dynamic which is constantly reconstructing and remodeling according to experiences, circumstances, and people with whom we interact in everyday life.
In this context, music can be used as a means to formulate and express our character. We use it not only to regulate our moods and behavior but also to present ourselves to other people. Personal music tastes and preferences reflect our personality, beliefs, and attitudes.
At the same time, music helps us find our niche within society and feel belonged to a given social group. We may listen to music in an empathetic way-to connect with friends and to understand how others think.
Connecting and synchronizing
Synchronization is natural, spontaneous, and cross-cultural. It allows us to bond with people we don’t even know. As a result of an interpersonal connection, we self merge to form one harmonized system. There’s evidence that synchronization between people can promote their subsequent positive feelings toward each other. The tendency to engage in rhythmic music-based movements is, hence, a social demeanor.
Moreover, according to pain threshold tests (used to measure endorphin levels), several human social bonding activities, such as laughter, synchronized sports, singing, and dancing, spark endorphin release. Synchronized exertive activity (such as rowing and choir singing), in particular, elevates the pain threshold significantly more than non-synchronized exertion, suggesting that rhythmic, music-based exercises may similarly facilitate endorphin release. In other words, immersing yourself in music with other people makes you feel better.
3. Arousal and mood regulation
The most important dimension of music listening. Includes statements about the use of music as background entertainment and diversion and as a means to revamp mood and conduct one’s physiological arousal.
Enhancing physical performance
In another study, searching for the effects of music in exercise and sport, music has been found to exert positive impacts on physical activity.
Researchers were interested in five outcome variables that fall under four different categories: (1) psychological responses, measured by feeling scale (FS), (2) physiological responses, measured by heart rate and oxygen uptake (VO2), (3) psychophysical responses, measured by the rating of perceived exertion (RPE), and (4) physical performance, measured by time, distance, speed, power, repetitions, etc.
In the end, they discovered that music was associated with significant beneficial effects for feeling scale (FS), performance, rating of perceived exertion (RPE), and oxygen consumption (VO2), but no considerable impact on heart rate (HR).
Therefore, what I understand from these results is that music listening can enhance physical performance by making you feel better while exercising, improving physical efficiency, narrowing attention, and making muscular tasks seem less arduous.
Uplifting dopamine
How can a mass of sound waves trigger such intense states of excitement? Answer: C 8H 11NO 2.
Applying fMRI and ligand-based positron emission tomography (PET) scanning, a team of Montreal researchers came upon prominent findings of music’s pleasure-producing capacity.
The first discovery is that music stimulates parts of the brain correlated to feelings of reward, motivation, and emotion. They detected dopamine being released in both the dorsal and ventral striatum. Feels good, doesn’t it?
What I’ve found most interesting, however, is the sharp increase in dopamine levels immediately before the climax of emotional responses. It makes sense, though, if you think about it. Dopamine is related to the brain’s reward system, so it’s reasonable to state that its levels build up in the anticipatory phase, when you’re expecting something good to happen. It’s like waiting for the drop in EDM music: the longer the delay, the greater the reward.
I’m amazed you’ve made it this far on the post. It’s very kind of you. Here’s my Spotify profile that you can check out if you so like, or not. It’s a free country.
(ngl I’ve gathered some good stuff there, “coffeehouse” is my favorite and most-elaborated playlist)
Anyway, I listed below the lovely resources I used to write this post. Thanks, Science.
The psychological functions of music listening
Music and the inner self | James Rhodes | TEDx Madrid
Music as medicine | American Psychological Association
Why do people like to listen to songs over and over? | Ask Dr. Universe
Music and health | Harvard Medical School
Adolescents’ uses of media for self-socialization
Effects of Music in Exercise and Sport: A Meta-Analytic Review
Using Music in Times of Anxiety | University of Michigan Health Blog
Music improves sleep quality in students
The Neuroscience of Music | WIRED
Music and social bonding: “self-other” merging and neurohormonal mechanisms
What are musical identities, and why are they important
Intensity of Emotions Conveyed and Elicited by Familiar and Unfamiliar Music
